Yoke



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN F. OCONNCR, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASIGNOR TO WILLIAM H. MINER, OF

CRAZY, NEW YORK.

YOKE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 22, 1921.

Application filed July 5 1919. Serial No. 308,828.

To all whom it may concern:

Be. it known that I, JOHN F. OCoNNoR, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Yokes, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description, reference being bad tothe accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

My invention relates to improvements in yokes. a

The object ofv the invention is to provide a simple and relatively inexpensive strong and efficient yoke for railway draft riggings and which is made entirely of forgings and arranged for key connection to a draw bar.

In the drawings forminga part of this' specification, Figure 1 is a s1de elevation of a yoke embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the structure illustrated in Fig. 1, parts of the yoke being broken away. Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse sectional view taken substantially on the line 33 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a side elevational view, parts being broken away, of another embodiment of my invention. And Fig. 5 is a transverse vertical sectional view taken on the line 55.of Fig. 4.

Referrin first to the construction illustrated in igs. 1, 2 and 3, 10 denotes the shank of a standard draw bar having a-coupler key slot 11 and the improved yoke is designated generally by the reference A.

Said yoke A, as shown, is formed of three forged elements, to-wit: the yoke strafi B and two side plates C-C. The strap is of substantially U-shape and has an upper arm 12, a lower arm 13 and a rear connect-mg section 14, the latter being braced and strengthened in. the usual manner by a filler plate 15 riveted thereto. Each of the arms 12 and 13 is widened laterally at its forward end, as indicated at 16, and, at its extreme forward end, each arm is bent inwardly toward the center line of draft, as indicated at 17. Said inwardly bent arms 17 are provided at their ends with laterally extended integral lugs 18 -18, said lugs being ar-v indicated at 20. The plates C will. be so proportioned that their rear vertical edges 21 will lie either against or slightly spaced from the usual front follower of the draft rigging, and at their forward ends, the plates C will be provided with blunt tapered extensions, as indicated at 22, in order to provide sufficient metal in front of the coupler key slots 20 to prevent tearing out. of

the metal.

I In the construction illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5, the same general principles are em ployed, and the yoke also consists of three parts-a yoke strap roper B and two side plates C":C' In thls construction, the lugs 118-118 are integrally formed on the plate 'C' instead of on the strap proper andthe latter is suitably slotted to receive said lugs 118--118, the latter being up-set or headed over the strap arms, as indicated at 119. The

plates C are tapered from the rear to the forward ends, as indicated at 23, and the forward ends of the arms of the strap B are correspondingly inclined, as indicated at 117117. The plates C are, of course, provided with coupler key slots, as indicated at 120, and in actual practice the lugs 118 will be inwardly offset from the main portions of the plates C, as indicated at 24 in Fig. 5. This is to obtain the necessary spacing for the'butt of the draw bar and without requiring the forward ends of the strap B being made excessively wide.

From the preceding description, considcred in connection with the drawing, it is evident that my improved yoke may be made entirely from forgings, thereby insuring .a greater uniformity of-metal than can always be obtained where castings are employed, and, at the same time, a. minimum amount of material is required to complete the.yoke..

of draw bars.

I claim:

1. As ail-article of manufacture, a yoke for railway draft riggings, said yoke comprising: a head having two side members and top and bottom members, two of the opposed members of said head constituting the ends of a U-shaped yoke proper, t-wo opposed members of said head being independently formed and slotted and the remaining two members of said head having integral lugs extending through and beyond said slots, said lugs corresponding in cross section, wit-hinthe slots, to the cross section of the slots, the outer ends of said lugs which are extended beyond the slotted members being enlarged in cross section to thereby rigidly unite all of said members and prevent separation Without destructive effect.

2. As-an article of manufacture, a hollow headed yoke for railway draft riggings comprising, two independently formed side members and a yoke strap proper, the forward ends of the arms of the yoke strap proper constituting the top and bottom members of the yoke head, each of said side members having upper and lower slots and the forward end of each arm of the yoke strap proper having oppositely and laterally extended lugs, passing through and beyond the corresponding slots in the side members, the ends of the lugs on the outer sides of the side members being upset to thereby rigidly unite the side members and yoke strap proper and prevent separation thereof without destructive effect.

In witness that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto subscribed my name this 80th day of June, 1919.

JOHN F. OCONNOR. 

